If someone is offering money for nothing, there’s probably a catch, right? In this new twist on a romance scam, a con artist offers to become your “sugar momma” (or “sugar daddy”) and pay your bills. But according to recent BBB Scam Tracker reports, it’s really a way to trick victims out of money.
How the Scam Works
You get a message through a dating or social media app from someone offering to be your “sugar momma” or “sugar daddy.” In exchange for your affections, they will pay you a “weekly allowance” of several hundred dollars. The offer sounds too good to be true, but your benefactor seems legitimate – at first.
The scammer sends you a check or pretends to transfer money into your bank account. They tell you to keep most of the money as your “weekly allowance” – after you do them a small favor. The scammer asks you to transfer part of the cash to their needy friend, pay an outstanding bill, or even make a donation to charity. One victim reported that the con artist wanted him to donate several thousand dollars of the money he received to an “orphanage.” Of course, the check or bank transfer was fake, and the “orphanage” was really just the scammer – or an associate – using a different name.
“I believed that these checks were legit and the funds were real,” one victim told BBB Scam Tracker. “I ended up just sending my own personal…
